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# SMC students head to D.C
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smc-students-head-to-d-c/
- Published: 2004-05-05T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:16:41.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Venice, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

Four Santa Monica College students have been selected to be summer interns in the White House, U.S. Congress and National Institutes of Health.

The students, who come from a variety of backgrounds and interests, will gain experience through the eight-week internship program, which is believed to be unique for a community college. Interns will receive stipends to cover transportation, housing and other expenses.

The Dale Ride Internship program — which in 12 years has sent 71 students to the White House, Congress and other agencies — is underwritten by the SMC Foundation President’s Circle, Stratton-Petit Foundation, US Bank and Verizon. Other contributors include the Dale Ride Family Fund and the SMC Associates, a private community support organization that funds speakers and special programs on campus.

The interns and their assignments are: ■ Sanam Dabir-Babakan, of Los Angeles, will be in the office of U.S. Representative Dan Burton (R-Ind.). A certified paralegal, Dabir-Babakan is a women’s studies major who has made the SMC dean’s list and is a member of the Women’s College Association and Black Collegians. A native of Iran who was raised in the United States, she volunteers with Project Angel Food and works with the elderly. She plans to become a lawyer and serve underprivileged minority women and children. ■ Juanett Davis, of Los Angeles, will serve in the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). President-elect of the SMC Associated Students, Davis is a broadcast journalism major who is active with the Venice/Santa Monica chapter of the NAACP and with student government. A recipient of the Jean Litsy O’Brien Scholarship, she has been named to the National Dean’s List. She plans to transfer to USC’s Annenberg School of Communication with the goal of working in television. ■ Ray Emanuel, of Santa Monica, will serve at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., just outside Washington, D.C. Abiology major, Emanuel is the president of SMC’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and has served as the Associated Students’ director of financial support. A native of Burma who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in a family that could not afford health insurance, he plans to go into the field of health administration with an emphasis on health care policy and reform. ■ Terez McCall, of Los Angeles, will serve her internship at the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. A sociology and women’s studies major, she is a member of SMC’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and Black Collegians, and is vice president of the Women’s College Students Association. A native of South Central Los Angeles, Terez hopes to work for the U.S. Department of Education and concentrate on increasing post-secondary enrollment, especially among disadvantaged youth.

The internship program was established in 1991 in the memory of a man who had a long, distinguished career as an educator, administrator and public servant. Ride taught political science and served in administrative posts at SMC for 33 years until his death in September 1989 at the age of 67.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/050504-06_01.jpg)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 5, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050504.pdf?ref=smdp.com)